KC Light Rail

Local:

• Light rail ridership forecast won’t be finished before Nov. 4 vote (Kansas City Star)
• Light rail opponents fail to file reports with ethics panel (Kansas City Star)
• Funkhouser: Build light rail, and eco-devo will come (Kansas City Business Journal)
• Mr. Stinky Feet debuts catchy new light rail song (Fox 4 News)
• Subverting democracy on a technicality (Kansas City Post)
• So who is this Patrick Tuohey? (Prime Buzz)
• JoCo’s interest in public transit rises with fuel prices (Kansas City Business Journal)
• Light rail would keep KC working (Kansas City Star)

National:

• Downtown convention hotel opens in Phoenix (Expo Magazine)
• Bringing BART here: "Yes" on B adds connecting rail (Milpitas Post)
• Park-and-ride lots lead to light rail (Arizona Republic)
• Rail plan offers chance to get back on track (Boston Globe)
• Telling D.C. why we need transit money (Hudson Reporter)
• Metro walking a fine line on Prop M (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• To build or not to build? (Denver Daily News)

Since the opposition has made a lot of fuss about the actual construction period of light rail affecting business owners — pay no mind to the long-term benefits to the community — we decided to hit up our City Transit Advocates compatriot at Light Rail AZ to see how Phoenix's outreach program for affected businesses worked for them. Construction on the 20-mile starter line is complete; the line is in testing now and will open in December.

So, straight from the source is a post about their first expansion (already!) and some of the tools Phoenix used to mitigate construction impacts.

Regarding the specifics of financing options for these businesses:

The city of Phoenix offers several different types of loans to corridor business owners.

Expansion Assistance and Development is a collateral reserve deposit that can help Phoenix business owners meet a lender’s collateral requirements. Collateral enhancements up to $150,000 are available at no cost to METRO corridor businesses or to their lenders. These enhancements can be used with any commercial loan, including Small Business Administration loans and lines of credit.

The New Markets Loan provides below-market rates on loans to stimulate economic growth in low-income areas, which includes most of the METRO corridor. Qualifying investments may include office, industrial, retail or mixed-use projects with funding approval for construction, acquisition or rehabilitation. Project minimums are $1 million and loan repayment terms range from one to seven years.

Community-based micro loans are available through the Self-Employment Loan Fund and Prestamos, a lending subsidiary of Chicanos Por La Causa. The Self-Employment Loan Fund helps small businesses access capital in amounts ranging from $200 to $35,000. Prestamos offers loans ranging from $2,000 to $250,000. You can also get free business advice when you apply for these loans.

So there's an easy way to get through this and hard way. What's it gonna be, Main Street?

Pitch Weekly rabble-rouser David Martin provides the fodder that proves ulterior motives are the only reason to be against light rail: the entire operation is bankrolled by the new car wash being built at Linwood and Main.

Maybe you've wondered why such a high profile location was surrendered to such a low use? Yeah, we totally did too. It's no secret that this stretch of Main Street has been in every city-backed light rail proposal since the beginning of time and that a car wash in no way fits with the official vision for the corridor. Pay no mind that a few blocks away the much-maligned Big Bay Car Wash was torn down only last year because it was a target for crime. Anyone see the irony here?

We're quite pleased to read that these Citizens for "Sensible" Transit have finally broken the $50,000 mark in fundraising. They might be able to afford a teevee spot the day before the election.

A new group called "NKC Rail" filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission on Oct. 6.

While we're at it, here's the list of additional donors over $5,000 to the Citizens For Light Rail campaign we posted about last month:

- Blue Cross Blue Shield, insurance company with HQ on the route ($25,000)
- URS Corporation, engineering ($7,500)
- DeBruce Grain, KC grain storage company with HQ near the route ($10,000)
- Burns & McDonnell, KC engineering company ($25,000)
- TranSystems, KC engineering company with HQ on the route ($10,000)
- Universal Press Syndicate, KC publishing company with HQ on the route ($10,000)
- Herzog Contracting, St. Joseph rail constructor and operator ($25,000)
- Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus, KC law firm with HQ near the route ($10,000)

Planners are required to involve local residents in the discussion about transportation funding. Until recently, that funding in KC has been spent almost exclusively on highways. Why? Because you literally haven't spoken up about alternatives. Redeem yourself by attending one of the five transportation forums and demand transportation diversity as part of the public record. It's kinda like voting!

Kudos to MARC for adding transit information for each location!

A new station that's part of a Portland MAX light rail extension will feature wind turbines, solar panels, salvaged materials, and bio-filtration of storm water run-off.

The wind turbines — designed and manufactured in Oregon and perched atop the catenary poles near the station — will generate 275 watts. The solar array will generate 50 kilowatts, enough to run all lighting on site. The bio-filtration allows the station to be untethered from the city's storm water system.

The new station is part of the publicly-funded MAX light rail system, not the public-private Portland Streetcar system — an urban circulator — that serves the central city.

A common complaint about light rail is that the construction impact trumps any reduction in pollution or congestion realized by increased transit ridership. Projects like this address that complaint. However, opponents who trumpet the construction impact of light rail rarely include the manufacture of cars or the production and supply chain impacts of oil and gasoline in their estimates.